Because the Contour Flanges and Contour Roll features have formed an open tube, you can create a flat pattern without adding any additional features.
- On the ribbon, click
Sheet Metal tab
Flat Pattern panel
Create Flat Pattern
.
The flat pattern is created. The Flat Pattern tab displays as the active ribbon tab.
The flat pattern displays the bend centerlines and bend extents for the four 90-degree bends that form the square tube, It also displays as the two roll centerlines for the two 30-degree rolls created by the Contour Roll features. Bend centerlines, bend extents, roll centerlines, and roll extents are all exported to separate layers when a flat pattern is exported to DWG or DXF formats to facilitate flexibility in CNC manufacturing.
In the final portion of this tutorial, you explore the use of the Unfold and Refold feature. You unroll and unfold the model that you created, adding some features and then refolding and rerolling the model.